Portage

In this group show, seven Canadian artists reflect on portage as an indelible and ongoing element of Canadian identity, landscape and movement. ‘Portage’ comes from the French porter (‘to carry’). As early French explorers and coureurs de bois ventured deeper into areas of New France using the many waterways, they adopted the aboriginal practices of carrying their boats around obstacles.

These artists engage portage as a historical period, a national memory, a way of knowing, a site of resistance, and a contemporary imaginaire.